View full sizeMark Humphrey, Associated PressThis is what U.S. soccer has come down to. A player, in this case Terrence Boyd, lying prostrate with grief because of his team's shortcomings. Boyd and his teammates tied El Salvador, 3-3, on Monday in Nashville, Tenn., and failed to qualify for the Olympics.

Epic fail.

The U.S. men's soccer team's stunning collapse and embarrassing exit from the Olympic stage this week forces tough questions about the sport's direction and future.

One has to wonder if American soccer's future is in its past and whether this will dim the rising star of University of Akron coach Caleb Porter, who coached the doomed U.S. squad.

For only the second time since 1976, the United States failed to qualify for the Summer Olympics. In group play at the qualifying tournament for North and Central American and Caribbean countries in Tennessee, the American Under-23 team beat Cuba, 6-0, suffered its first loss in 20 years to relative lightweight Canada, 2-0, and took a proverbial kick in the shins in the form of a 3-3 tie against El Salvador, which is a beautiful country and passionate about soccer, but has about half the population of Ohio.

The United States needed to reach the finals of the tournament to qualify for London. It was third in a relatively weak group and didn't even advance to the semifinals.

London Calling

Word out of London this week is that women's beach volleyball players will not be required to wear bikinis, which begs the question, why were they required to wear bikinis?

Aerodynamics, right?

This, of course, is good news for countries who prefer their women to dress modestly, and bad news for NBC's television ratings.

-- Tim Warsinskey

Three Maxims

The Olympic maxim "Citius, Altius, Fortius" has become known in English as "Swifter, Higher, Stronger." Here are athletes who have been just that in recent days:

Swifter:Wallace Spearmon of Bryan, Texas, ran a world-leading time of 19.95 seconds in the 200 meters Saturday at the UTA Bobby Layne Invitational in Arlington, Texas.

Higher: Or in this case, "straighter." Californian Kim Rhode, who already has qualified for her fifth Olympics, won a shotgun World Cup event in Tucson, Ariz., and set a world record, hitting 75 of 75 targets in match competition. She went on to score 99 of 100, which tied a world record.

Stronger: Ohioans Logan Stieber (Monroeville-Ohio State) and DavidTaylor (St. Paris-Penn State) this week were awarded wild-card berths into the U.S. wrestling Olympic Trials by virtue of the NCAA titles they won earlier this month. The Trials are April 21-22 in Iowa City, Iowa.

-- Tim Warsinskey

Calendar

There are five rings in the Olympic logo. Here are five circles on the sports calendar as athletes prepare for the London Games July 27-Aug. 12:

Today, basketball: The U.S. women's Olympic team will be announced in Denver. Is this a turnover year? Eight of the roster finalists will be at least 30 this summer.

Today-Saturday, shooting: Conclusion of the ISSF Shotgun World Cup in Tucson, Ariz. Shooters from 43 countries are competing.

Today-Saturday, swimming: Indianapolis Grand Prix, the fifth of seven events in the series.

Saturday-Sunday, wrestling: Last-chance qualifying tournament for wrestlers who have not yet earned berths in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

-- Tim Warsinskey

The Olympic qualification process for soccer is awkward, at best. The U.S. team was put together solely for this tournament. The team it would have sent to London, had it qualified, would have looked much different. The United States and other national teams aren't playing with their best players, many of whom are tied to their European clubs at the moment. The Olympic teams can add three over-age players, and presumably other age-eligible players currently employed professionally. So the likes of Clint Dempsey and Landon Donovan weren't on the pitch against El Salvador, which really shouldn't have mattered.

The meltdown might be a sign of stalled U.S. soccer development. Recent American U20 teams also struggled on the world stage. The 2011 squad failed to make the World Cup, and the 2009 squad didn't advance beyond World Cup group play.

This could have far-reaching consequences felt right here in Greater Cleveland, which has a thriving soccer community. U.S. soccer already is increasing pressure on top youth players to commit to playing for developmental teams year-round, which will force many to bypass high school soccer. High school rules do not permit athletes to play for outside teams during high school seasons. Expect that trend to continue.

Still, most agree the United States had more than enough talent to at least reach the crucial semifinals. Flashes were there during the 6-0 win over Cuba and an inspired comeback against El Salvador, in which the United States rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take a 3-2 lead. But in crucial stretches, the United States played not to lose, which came as a surprise from a team coached by Porter, whose Akron teams are known for attacking. Porter has come under fire this week for inflexible formations.

Players spoke afterward about how each minute after the United States regained the lead felt like hours, proving a watched clock turns ever slower, while El Salvador chased its "Miracle in Tennessee." It scored the game-tying goal with seconds remaining in stoppage time.

Now the question becomes, is time expiring on U.S. soccer? Decades of growth have reached a crucial juncture. There is much work to be done to erase lasting images of U.S. players lying in stunned disbelief on home turf after failing to defeat El Salvador.

Another poignant image from Nashville's LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans, was the paltry crowd of 7,889, which was about evenly split between American fans and El Salvadoran supporters. Really? We can't even outdraw El Salvador in our own country? That alone says as much about U.S. soccer as the dismal play of the Americans.

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